Assure Care Ltd
Good

Reports

During a routine inspection

This inspection took place on the 10 and 11 December 2018 and was announced. It was the first inspection since the provider registered on 1 July 2016.

Assure Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care. It is registered to provide a service to younger adults, older people, people with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder, people with a physical disability, people with a sensory impairment, people with mental health needs and people living with dementia.

CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection it was confirmed that 14 people using the service received 'personal care’.

A registered manager was in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The registered manager was fully aware of their legal responsibilities and was committed to providing effective leadership and support to staff.

Risk assessments were in place and were regularly reviewed. Staff were aware of specific risks relating to people’s healthcare conditions. Risk assessments were applied to indicate the risks and how they were to be managed to keep people safe.

People were supported by staff that had been safely recruited and had a good understanding of safeguarding procedures. Sufficient numbers of suitable staff were available to support people to stay safe and meet their needs.

Appropriate arrangements were in place for the management of medicines. Staff had received training and were knowledgeable about how to safely administer medicines to people. People received their medicines as prescribed.

People were protected from the risk of infection. Staff understood their responsibilities in relation to infection control and hygiene and were provided with personal protective equipment (PPE), such as disposable gloves and aprons.

Staff knew how to report and record accidents and incidents and lessons were learned when things went wrong. The registered manager recorded accidents and incidents and responded to these to ensure people were safe.

People’s needs were assessed before they were supported by Assure Care Limited. People were involved in the development of care plans and risk assessments that took their preferences and wishes into account.

People were supported by staff that had access to a training programme, supervision and appraisals. Spot checks were undertaken regularly to ensure people’s needs were being met as detailed in their care plans.

People were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced diet and were supported to live healthier lives and maintain good health.

People were very happy with the care and support they received. The staff and management team were inspired to offer care that was kind and compassionate and were committed to supporting people to enhance their lives and maintain their independence. People’s cultural and religious beliefs were respected and embraced.

People’s assessments and care plans considered people's values, beliefs, hobbies and interests along with their goals for the future. The management team had taken time to get to know people and involved them in planning their care. Care plans recorded people’s personal history, interests and religious beliefs.

The provider had procedures in place to respond to people's concerns. People were encouraged to raise any concerns or complaints they may have about the provider. People had not had the opportunity to discuss what it meant to be at the end of their life or make their preferences known. At the time of the inspec

Inspection ratings

We rate most services according to how safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led they are, using four levels:

Outstanding – the service is performing exceptionally well.

Good – the service is performing well and meeting our expectations.

Requires improvement – the service isn't performing as well as it should and we have told the service how it must improve.

Inadequate – the service is performing badly and we've taken enforcement action against the provider of the service.

No rating/under appeal/rating suspended – there are some services which we can’t rate, while some might be under appeal from the provider. Suspended ratings are being reviewed by us and will be published soon.

Ticks and crosses

We don't rate every type of service. For services we haven't rated we use ticks and crosses to show whether we've asked them to take further action or taken enforcement action against them.

There's no need for the service to take further action. If this service has not had a CQC inspection since it registered with us, our judgement may be based on our assessment of declarations and evidence supplied by the service.

The service must make improvements.

At least one standard in this area was not being met when we inspected the service and we have taken enforcement action.